Planning My Menu For The Week

I know that planning menus and making grocery lists saves money, time and headaches, but somehow I go week by week without really making a plan . I can find myself making way too many trips to the grocery store, wandering down the aisles trying to decide what's for supper. Worst yet is grabbing a Pizza to take home or going out to eat which is even more costly.

Some people like to plan menus for a month, but I like to plan once a week.since I like to shop once a week . I also no longer have room for more than a week's groceries. There is no large pantry to fill up like we had in Texas.

I have a ring binder that has some of my favorite recipes and also recipes I want to give a try someday. I am great at printing recipes and letting them pile up. I keep my favorite recipes in plastic sheets to protect them from splatters. Some are printed, others are hand written from friends, my mother and even myself. I so enjoy seeing my mom's hand writing. Can be comforting.

First thing I do is look at the new grocery ads to see what is on sale at the stores and then look at some of my recipe choices to come up with menu ideas for the week. I then gather my coupons and plan my shopping trip.

At this time I have about 30 different menu ideas, with that and the recipes I have not tried , plus searching on line for new recipes I can hopefully add a little variety to the dinner hour.

I like to print some of these pretty menu planning forms to write my menus on. There are several choices. I like the One Week Menu Planner with grocery list attached. I keep these in my recipe binder so they are always handy.

I have a small book shelf in my tiny kitchen. On it I have some of my favorite cook books, my recipe binder and my coupon binder. Also there is room for my new pots and pans ( they are a pretty blue and it has been years since I got new cookware and these were a gift from my sweet sister), my crock pot and electric fry pan.

My goal for the this month is to organize my recipe binder better and come up with more menu choices. Things can get very boring with out variety at dinner time.
Another goal is to start making double of my recipes and freezing them for future meals.

How to you plan your menu for the week. I would love to hear your ideas...
Thanks for stopping by .. and Never Under Estimate The Value Of A Small Amount Of Money.. Grace